Girls Week in Review

Girl’s Week Out…was successful. 

Joy and I had a great week, even though our first major cold snap came for a visit the day she did! (And by the way, Joy…today was the best day we have had since you came-Jack was even in short sleeves all day and I never donned a jacket!  Talk about timing!)

I introduced Joy to Maine, or Maine to Joy…however you want to say it-starting at Cadillac Mountain on Friday morning, and of course it was so frigid we were about to freeze our fannies off.  But we did manage a quick picture before we nearly became victims of frostbite!

get us back in the car!!!!!

We hit up Bar Harbor, Southwest Harbor, and Northeast Harbor before leaving MDI and heading down the coast to spend the night in Camden…where we talked until the wee hours of the morning, becoming completely hoarse.  It was great.   The next day we visited a local vineyard, and shopped a bit in Camden and Rockland.

a delicious tasting

We arrived home Saturday night, then spent a lazy Sunday after church driving up to Dexter then winding down with pizza and the Food Network in the evening.

Monday we zipped down to Portland with mom-the waves were really crashing at the lighthouse, but the weather was beautiful and downtown was hopping.

Portland Head Light...a rock near it anyway!

I was extremely pleased that the fall color was still in full swing everywhere we went.  And the rain that was supposed to fall every day of the week…it never made an appearance minus a 10 minute cloud burst one afternoon.  I feel it was God’s little gift to us!

After I dropped Joy off at the airport Tuesday morning, I spent a marathon day housecleaning my neglected nest…accomplished more than I have in a great while.  So if anyone else is up for a visit, maybe I could wind up with a sparkling attic. I’m up for it if you are!

Calling all Friends!

Prayer Time!

This little baby…

was born a lot early! His name is Cash, and his Momma and Daddy are Melissa and Shawn.

aren't they the cutest? next to their baby?

Melissa and I were good friends in Junior High, way back when. Facebook brought us together again (yay!) and I’ve been following her beautiful pregnancy photos…until one day there was a “born baby” update…right out of the blue! Here’s where it gets crazy-Melissa was diagnosed with the very same thing I was when I had Ryan…Hellp Syndrome. Crazy, because it’s so rare. So I have a special interest in this family, because I can absolutely understand what they are going through. And what got me through was the fact that we literally had people praying for us across the entire nation. Word spreads fast, which means prayer spreads fast, which is an Excellent Thing! So if y’all could pray for Shawn and Melissa and Cash, I would appreciate it, and I know they would too. Pray that little Cash would gain weight quickly and his organs would function properly, and that Melissa and Shawn would have peace throughout this ordeal. They live about an hour from the hospital-that’s quite a haul. Here’s hoping for a baby home in time for the best Thanksgiving Meal ever!

Thanks, so very much!

The Big 3-0

I must, must get in a Happy Birthday to my very best friend, who turns 30 today!

Ms. Joy and I have been best friends since the 3rd grade…through thick and thin, and y’all I’m SO EXCITED because she is coming to visit me Next Week!  I can hardly sleep at night for all of the happy emotions this visit wells up inside me!

She is beautiful, courageous, driven, and one of the strongest people I have ever had the honor of knowing. We have not had a decent face to face conversation in over a decade, so next Thursday through Tuesday will hopefully be filled with late nights, early mornings, gallons of coffee and hours of conversation.  And miles of sight seeing!

Love You Girlfriend!

George

I just had to share this; it was one of those “makes me very happy” moments.

We have a friend, Ms. M, who is in the hospital right now, so I scoot over to her place to check her mail and phone messages every day.  This morning there was a message on her machine from George.  It was wonderful;  he had this gravel-y old voice that was precious as it could be (I’m sure he would love me calling him precious) and he announced himself as her old classmate. I have to admit I googled him, and found out that he did indeed attend high school with Ms. M…he graduated in 1936.  So it has been, very likely, 73 years since they have seen each other!  Maybe not that long, but he had a wonderful old laugh that seemed to imply it HAD been that long since they had seen each other.  He went on to say “I’m still here (Ms. M is 91 years old; I assume he is close to that too) and I wake up every morning just as suprised as can be!”

I can’t wait to see Ms. M tonight and see if she remembers him.  I’d love to hear a story about the good ol’ days; her memory is failing a bit these days (although so is mine!) but maybe she has a recollection or two left of her old classmate.  Wouldn’t it be great if she could call him back?  The stories they could share!

Anyway, his “wake up every morning just as suprised as can be” makes me remember that I need to “wake up every morning just as grateful as can be”.   That’ll be first on my agenda when my son wakes me up at the crack of dawn tomorrow. 

Oh Happy Days!

Two days to celebrate…the 4th of July, of course! And a turning of the tide for our house; yesterday E and I went to work on it and my breath was literally taken away by how much had been accomplished between dear husband and fabulous friend Peter. On Monday, Erick had to take off from the house early, but good ol’ Pete asked to stay and finish a “few” things. And you know what he did? He painted the kitchen! And my heart is GLAD! It’s gone from this horrendous thing:

to this:

to this:

(and this):

Obviously we are no where near the end, but that first coat did my heart wonders! I’m not fond of the beadboard but it will have to do for now; I’m going to try and sand a bit then whitewash. We’ll get new doors for the cabinets, and put up open shelving. (I know, I know…the dusting! The keeping order of open shelves! But I believe everyone is entitled to a first homeowner mistake or two, and I love them anyway. Besides, we can’t afford all new cabinetry).

Funny thing; I’m practically paralyzed by indecision when it comes to paint schemes, so I believe that for the time being, EVERYTHING in the house is going to be primed white, and after we are in the house for awhile I’ll decide what color to add. I’m pretty sure the kitchen will stay white, though…with black countertops and silver accents. And the color from my bowls and things on the shelves. Oh, and a chalkboard painted wall.

I was so motivated yesterday that I scrubbed and scrubbed away at the rug remnants on our bedroom floor, preparing it for the engineered hardwood. Erick was the mudder and sander of the day! We accomplished quite a bit, and felt great for it!

Therefore, we relax and relish today. I hope you all enjoy (or did enjoy!) the 4th!

Can you say tuckered out?

The boys and I are taking a much-needed day off today. And possibly tomorrow-can’t get much work completed with two little ones running around a construction zone anyway. Erick actually works amazingly well and quickly without any distractions around; I hope to see the house finished by the time Saturday comes! (I wish. OH, how I wish).

In reality, although it still looks like a tremendous un-livable mess, things are starting to come together. On Sunday, even though we were too worn out to go to church, we sent a note asking for help and people came out in full force. Oh my. One family in particular has been there every afternoon and evening since Monday and has not only provided help, but as also provided food. 5 other friends have come to offer assistance too. People are just flat-out awesome. Makes me want to get out there and help people, too! Our living room floor and hall are almost finished with the new hardwood flooring…it’s purty. I think as soon as the floors are completely done and we have at least one coat of paint on the walls it’ll feel like a new place. The walls look particularly horrendous right now and I can’t wait to see them cleaned up a bit!

In other news, I think I’ve talked Erick into planting a weeping willow in our backyard. I adore weeping willows; how romantic are they? They just beckon you to come sit underneath and read a book during a lazy afternoon. They are incredibly fast growing and really soak up water…we have a small water problem in our basement (who doesn’t?) but if we planted the tree relatively near the house (not too near, of course) I’m thinking that it might soak up some of the moisture that would normally make it’s way into our home. That obviously might not happen, but I’d still have a lovely tree to gaze at and to dream under!

Well, time to whip mom and dad’s house into shape. It’s gone sorely neglected for awhile, so I’m going to hit it hard this morning then spend the remainder of the day relaxing and playing with the kiddos. And possibly posting more posts. We’ll see.

Scope for Imagination

When I was around 10 or 11, I read through the Anne of Green Gables series. I adore how Anne always looks for those places or things that give her “scope for imagination”…a girl after my own heart! I picked up the first book in the series a few days ago and started to gobble it up again. The big difference between now and then? We are practically living in that scope for imagination. Sitting in my bedroom in New Mexico, I could only dream about living the life that my kids are now living, and that they are living right in their own backyard!

Yesterday my mom unearthed the very last bag of strawberries we picked last year in the back of the freezer (wonderful surprise!) so we invited friends over to feast on these for lunch…(thank you imagination)

After lunch was wrapped up, the big girls browsed magazines and fabric remnants (yay!) while the little kids used their scope for imagination to utter capacity in the wilds of the backyard…

Quite a good day for scope, I’d say.